Railway-switch.



No. 802,069.. PATENTED OGT. 1'7, 1905. J. J. CLARK. RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6. 1905.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 1.

2 SEBETSSHEET 2.

v PATENTBD OCT. 17, 1905,

J. J. CLARK. RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6. 1905.

JOHN J. CLARK, OF SAGOLA, MICHIGAN.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 17, 1905.

Application filed June 6, 1905. Serial No. 263,940.

To (116 whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN J. CLARK. a citizen of the United States, residing at Sagola, in the county of Dickinson and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Switches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention-has for its object the prevention of railway accidents occasioned by misplaced switch-rails; and it consists in providing means to automatically shift the movable switch-rails to a position of safety should portions of the switching mechanism liable to injury become broken.

In carrying out my invention above mentioned I replace the usual rod or bar which is used as a movement-imparting connection between the movable switch-rails by an improved form of connecting-rod fulfilling the same function as the old style and in addition thereto acting to automatically shift the movable rails to the safety or main-track position should the portion of the bar performing merely the functions of the old style become broken.

My invention will be more fully understood from the following description of a specific embodiment thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 represents in top plan a railwayswitch, showing my improved safety-rod used in connection therewith; Fig. 2, a top plan view, partly in section, on a slightly-larger scale, of the rod and showing also a portion of the rails; Fig. 3, a side elevation of the said rod disconnected from the rail; and Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 4 4, Fig. 2.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In the form herein shown my invention consists of a rod or bar .1, of any desired crosssection, though shown in the drawings as circular along its central portion. The ends 2 3 of this bar are flattened, and such flattened portions are adapted to pass under the stationary track-rail 4 5 in the usual manner. At suitable distances apart on the bar 1 are two offset portions 6 7 having flat portions 8 for attachment, as by bolts 9, to the web of the movable switch-rails 10 11, there being a space 12 between the said offset portions and the bar proper to admit the base of the rails. These offset portions in the form shown are made integral with the bar proper; but, if desired, they may be detachable. The end 2 of the rod is provided with an opening 13 to receive a bolt 14, by which the said rod is secured t0 the rod 15, passing to the switchstand or other operating device by which the movable rails are shifted. The portions of the rod so far described are substantially the same as though somewhat heavier than the usual form of rod employed for shifting the movable switch-rails.

With the style of rod at present generally employed the portions corresponding to the offset portions 6 7 are quite liable to be broken by dragging rigging or otherwise, and in the breaking of these parts the movable switch-rails are liable to be shifted and left in an open position, though the switch-signal may still indicate a clear track, since the body of the rod may still remain stationary. Thus an engineer seeing the safety-signal displayed may readily run into an open switch or onto a siding at a high rate of speed. The object of this invention is to provide means to automatically shift the movable rails to'a position of safety as, for example, the maintrack position shown in Figs. 1 and 2when the connection between the movable rails and the connecting-rod proper become accidentally broken. This I accomplish in the form of my invention shown by employing two auxiliary rods 16 17, having flattened end portions 18 19 passing under the stationary rails 4 5, and offset portions 20 21, having flattened portions 22, which, as in the case of the main-rod portion 8, are secured to the web of the movable rails 10 11. The other ends of these rods pass, respectively, into two chambers 23 24. madeintegral with or secured fast in any other suitable way to the main rod 1.

The left-hand end of each chamber, as viewed in Figs 1 and 2,is provided with a preferably integral head 25 26, each of which has a central opening through which the rods 16 and 17 pass, as shown. The other ends of the chambers have no fixed heads, but are normally closed by collars 27 28, carried by the rods 16 17, the said collars forming bearingsurfaces for coil-springs 2930, carried in said chambers and held under tension between the heads of said chambers and said collars by means of nuts 31 and 32, screwed on the rods 16 17, as shown.

Remembering that the rod 1 is held by the switch-rod 15 it will be readily seen that in case either or both of the portions 6 7 are broken away from the movable rails and said rails misplaced thereby the springs 29 and 30, acting against the collars 27 28, Will send the movable rails to the main-track position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. If only one movable rail becomes thus misplaced, it alone Will be automatically shifted to the proper position.

By this arrangement I provide a very simple and inexpensive means for the prevention of an accident which is of frequent occurrence on railroads.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination With a rod for attachment to the movable rails of a railway-switch for imparting motion thereto,of auxiliary rods for connection to the same movable rails as the first-mentioned rod is connected to, and resilient connection between said auxiliary rods and said first-mentioned rod adapted to force said auxiliary rods in the same direction.

2. The combination With a rod for attachment to the movable rails of a railway-switch, chambers carried by said rod, auxiliary rods each adapted to be secured at one end fast to one of said movable rails, and a spring carried in each of said chambers and tending to force said auxiliary rods in the same direction, for the purposes herein specified.

3. The combination Witha rod for attachment to the movable rails of a railway-switch, said rod being provided with flattened ends to extend beneath the fixed rails and offset portions for attachment to the movable rails, chambers carried by said rod, auxiliary rods each having an end for extension beneath the fixed rails and an otfset portion for attachment to the said movable rails, an adjustable stop on each auxiliary rod, and a spring in each of said chambers held under compression between said stops and one end of each chamher and tending to force said auxiliary rods in the same direction, substantially as and for the purposes herein specified.

In testimony WhereofI aflix my signature in presence of tWo Witnesses.

JOHN J. CLARK. W itnesses:

O. G. WALLACE, T. J. DnRvIsH. 

